Minister of Fire2.

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t all...my stove took care of the heat. I'm guessing a little less than a gallon of oil a day for hot water.

id like to set my aquastat at the lowest economical setting...just not sure what that is.

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A gallon of oil a day translates into over a hundred $ a month for HW. Way too much,go electric. The lowest economical setting in the meantime? Try turning it down 10 degrees at a time and give it a day or two to decide.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

A gallon of oil a day translates into over a hundred $ a month for HW. Way too much,go electric. The lowest economical setting in the meantime? Try turning it down 10 degrees at a time and give it a day or two to decide.

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You need to realize that it's not good for a boiler to go stone cold especially if you need it for backup.. My boiler tends to leak if it goes cold iron and there is no backup if you let the boiler go cold. Couple this with high electric rates in many places such as here where I live and you may save very little if anything plus my boiler can deliver hot water 24/7 if needed... I will also add that letting a boiler go cold is not good for the boiler either as a warm boiler doesn't have condensation/rust problems..

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

My Burnham boiler is 8 years old or so, set up as a cold start since new, and hasn't leaked yet (knock on wood). I put in an electric water heater since I figured it would pay back quick over the indirect.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

You need to realize that it's not good for a boiler to go stone cold especially if you need it for backup.. My boiler tends to leak if it goes cold iron and there is no backup if you let the boiler go cold. Couple this with high electric rates in many places such as here where I live and you may save very little if anything plus my boiler can deliver hot water 24/7 if needed... I will also add that letting a boiler go cold is not good for the boiler either as a warm boiler doesn't have condensation/rust problems..

Ray

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I only convert the boiler to cold start if im going to install an electric HWH. In this case its so much cheaper than running an oil boiler just to make HW. THey are so ineffecient as they continuall lose the heat up the chimney while on standby. Many new boilers are "cold start" The only reason to keep a boiler at a set temp is if the boiler provides domestic hot water. Surely your not suggesting to run a boiler only required for space heating all summer just to over come condensation. IF your basement has humidity issues it will affect more than just he boiler. I use a dehumidifier in summer to overcome dampness/high humidity.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

I only convert the boiler to cold start if im going to install an electric HWH. In this case its so much cheaper than running an oil boiler just to make HW. THey are so ineffecient as they continuall lose the heat up the chimney while on standby. Many new boilers are "cold start" The only reason to keep a boiler at a set temp is if the boiler provides domestic hot water. Surely your not suggesting to run a boiler only required for space heating all summer just to over come condensation. IF your basement has humidity issues it will affect more than just he boiler. I use a dehumidifier in summer to overcome dampness/high humidity.

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This Burnham boiler is 25 years old and I have no plans to replace it..

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

30 years is the figure I always heard....mine started going south at only 15 years, but the cheap bastid that owned the house before me (I think) left it off and stone cold all summer, except when he needed some HW. At least that what his ex told me. And made me buy the 75 gallons of #2 he left in the tank from him (at the going rate $1.50/gal)!

I think the price runup in 2008 would have killed him....I paid $1000 for the peak fill.

Member2.

NULL

My oil boiler is shut down and run cold start for backup. It leaked when cold once, several years ago. I put an electric tank in and never looked back. I burned an entire tank of oil before I realized I needed to change.

Member2.

NULL

I don't know your boiler but the American Standard I'm familiar with had a flat plate which is replaced with the coil assembly if hot water is wanted. If you replace the coil assembly with the original flat plate the leak might be gone. Though the leak is probably just an old O ring on a sensor or something. Maybe the leak will stop on it own after a week or so. Try to get the flat plate.
PS If your boiler is really that old, I bet the flue pipe is Swiss cheese.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

I think the OP should def try shutting down, and see if the leak repeats/closes up. I think running at low aquastat settings, with condensation and soot, is worse on the boiler than just shutting it down in the summer, and running it hot (e.g. 160-180) during the heating season. The parasitic losses in the winter are at least helping to heat the place. The losses are mostly out the sides, and not up the flue, if the boiler has a flame retention burner (commonly a Beckett).

If you're thinking about adding on a wood unit (presumably a boiler) - you've just gone to a whole other level of possibilities we weren't likely considering.

Time to step back & think long term evaluation.

But first, for right now, there has to be a way to turn that boiler down - I'm not familiar with that stat though & it's hard to tell without getting hands-on. Even if you do get it turned down, the sound of the burner cutting in with no call for heat on hot summer days would be like nails on a chalkboard to me - I would do whatever it took to make a new electric hot water tank work in your situation. Even if that came down to replacing your boiler with a new cold start one.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

I have seen oil and other boilers go much longer than that.. Where do you come up with this info?

Ray

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From their warranty,but your right some do go much longer depending on conditions. I have a few much older than that. Every case is different and call for different solutions. I also agree that condensation can be a problem as well but in my case my coal boiler puts out a lot of standby heat which would not be desirable in summer plus the amount of coal needed just to keep it lit makes it non cost effective for summer use. If your not using that much oil in summer, by all means leave it be. You cant use a cold start boiler for domestic hot water anyway.

Member2.

NULL

A gallon of oil a day translates into over a hundred $ a month for HW. Way too much,go electric. The lowest economical setting in the meantime? Try turning it down 10 degrees at a time and give it a day or two to decide.

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Yeah, I estimate that I am spending about $100/mo to heat my DHW with my indirect oil burner. I also estimate that I will spend about $40/mo to heat that water with an electric heater. So after the upfront cost, I think I'd have less than a year break even. The problem is that the $60/mo savings is only for the months that I don't require oil heat and I can turn the burner off. For parts of jan-mar, we supplement with oil heat, so the burner will be on anyway. So now I'm paying additional electric and oil.

The other issue is I don't want to ruin the burner by shutting it down for 8 months. It's a Buderus system (supposedly a nice top notch system from what people tell me) and its only 9 years old. You guys are scaring me with this leaking issue when cold. I'm not sure what to do at this point.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

That should be obvious. A boiler that is not equipped with a double aquastat does not maintain water temp thus "cold start" rather is activated from a call for heat from a thermostat. I have changed several boilers to a single aquastat so as NOT to maintain boiler temp when not calling for heat ,and then installed an electric HWH. Of course you could convert a cold start system the other way as well. The idea is to eliminate the fact that a boiler continually lose,s heat up the chimney when sitting idle. A wasteful way to store water that has just been heated with $3.50 a gallon oil

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

That should be obvious. A boiler that is not equipped with a double aquastat does not maintain water temp thus "cold start" rather is activated from a call for heat from a thermostat. I have changed several boilers to a single aquastat so as NOT to maintain boiler temp when not calling for heat ,and then installed an electric HWH. Of course you could convert a cold start system the other way as well. The idea is to eliminate the fact that a boiler continually lose,s heat up the chimney when sitting idle. A wasteful way to store water that has just been heated with $3.50 a gallon oil

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Right.

So if that "cold start" is activated by a call for heat from an indirect hot water tank, then you're heating DHW with a cold start boiler.

Minister of Fire2.

NULL

So if that "cold start" is activated by a call for heat from an indirect hot water tank, then you're heating DHW with a cold start boiler.

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In that case it may work as long as the cold water from your boiler doesnt start flowing through your indirect hot water tank before it reaches a high enough temperature. If you boiler is off long enough the water in it may be room temp.

New Member2.

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I've got three solar panels for hot water you can have if you're willing to come get them. Sitting in my garage waiting for me to rent a dumpster when I redo my siding. They were functional when I took them down...previous owner said they provided 30% of hot water in winter and most all of it in the summer. I can't attest to those numbers, but I know my oil consumption last summer was very low. The panels heated a 120 gallon water tank which then fed to a tankless heater that provided any boost needed. They were ugly and in my front yard so I didn't want them there and no where else in my yard had the right access to sunlight.

New Member2.

NULL

Apologize for resurrecting an older thread, but there was a great deal of information contained in this post that was revelant to an existing problem I'm having and I'd like to share my current research, proposed solution, and perhaps get a sanity check from the community before I pull the trigger.

After purchasing our home in Maine a few months ago, we immediately knew that we would like to wean ourselves off oil as quickly as possible. Additionally, diversifying our energy needs across multiple sources seems most logical to avoid being economically gouged elsewhere (high prices on electricity, propane, natural gas, pellets, wood, etc.), and efficiency is also on our list of important.

While we're considerate of the environment, for the sake of conversation let's stick to strictly fiscal decisions for the time being.

Our furnace currently is spotty at delivering DHW, especially during showers, so there are other reasons than the fiscal driving our decisions at this point, but monetarily, with a 2.7 year payback and a return on investment of 229% over the 12 year warranted life of the product (and for an installed price of around $1,000), it seems like a no brainer.

The Rheem wouldn't necessarily be my first choice of product, what with the non-replaceable anode, but again, with a 12 year warranty I'm not going to be too finicky about it.